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Last Week Stock Market (May 29-June 2, 2017)

This past week, May 29-June 2, all major U.S. stock indexes closed at all time highs; Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500. In the month of May, the Dow was up 0.3%, NASDAQ 2.5%, and the S&P 500 was up 1.2%. All these gains this past week were fueled by optimism that growth in both the economy and corporate earnings continues to gain positive momentum. Telecom stocks led gainers, while financials and energy were the only two declining sectors on the week.

594,00 jobs created and hourly wages have increased 0.7% since President Trump took office

The Atlanta Federal Reserve put out a model showing that our economy is growing at a 3.5% clip this current quarter

NASDAQ up 397% from March 9, 2009 low

S&P 500 up 261% from March 9, 2009 low

Oil settled at $47.66/barrel on Friday, June 2nd; down 4.3% on the week

Below is a snapshot of my three biggest retirement portfolio mutual fund movers in terms of percentage gained last week.

The below mutual funds are held within my work 401(k) plan as well as two separate Roth IRA plans. I currently invest 15% of my income into my company Roth 401(k), and that doesn’t include the company match I get. All accounts are held with Vanguard (so as you can see I primarily invest in Vanguard funds because of this).

Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund (VEXAX) 1.6%

Vanguard International Growth Index Fund (VWILX) 1.5%

DFA U.S. Small Cap Value Portfolio (DFSVX) 1.3%

Can I Beat the Stock Market?

I am actually not trying to “beat the market” with my retirement portfolio…I am trying to match it. I do have alternative indexes in my retirement portfolio to help possibly beat the market, e.g. Small Cap Value, REITs, International, and Emerging Markets. Through lots of reading and research on my part, I’ve found that a number of these assets classes “zig” when the market “zags”. I am purposely over-weighted in Small Cap Value, which at times helped me beat the market and at the same time lag the market.

With that said, if I can beat the market I will absolutely take it (obviously)! Last year in 2016 my retirement portfolio returned 13.01% versus 9.54% from the S&P 500. The primary reason I was able to beat the market last year was due to the strong performance of my Small Cap Value holdings, which I am weighted heavily in.

Thus far in 2017, which is 155 days, my retirement portfolio is up 7.3% versus 8.9% from the S&P 500. So while I beat the market in 2016, I am now lagging it in 2017. But I am investing for the long term so this doesn’t concern me, as long as I am within reason of the market (roughly 1%). I use a free account with Personal Capital to track my investments like this.

I am a Millennial, a liberal arts major, and I am my own financial advisor. I am strongly considering using the services of robo-advisor Betterment, however. The more I read and research Betterment, the more I like their product, services, and overall costs. But at this point, I am managing my own portfolio.

My goal with this Millennial personal finance blog is to show all Millennial’s that you have the power to take control of your personal finances through self-education and self-development on money and finances, and by striving to become financially literate. That is what I have been doing for years now, focusing on becoming an expert in financial literacy, so I can one day become financially independent. I’m trying to prove to Millennial’s that we can all do this and thrive with money. We Millennial’s have the greatest resource on our side to become financially independent and build wealth…time! Save, invest, and let compound interest do the rest.

Follow my blog as I highlight relevant personal finance and retirement topics pertaining to us Millennial’s.